Bow-facing-oar mechanism.



E. BIDDISON. BOW FACING OAR MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 2!, 1916.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

.TT TABS; ATT

EUGENE BIDDISON, OF FOX LAKE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDGAR E. SKILLIN, 0F RIVER GROVE, ILLINOIS.

BOW-FACING-OAR MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917..

Application filed October 21, 1916. Serial No. 126,815.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EUGENE BIDDISON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fox Lake, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bow-Facing- Oar Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bow-facing oar mechanism and has for its object the provisions of simple, light weight, strong, durable and compact means for propelling a boat in the direction in which the rower faces, means which are easy of attachment to the side of a boat, and which provide for high rowing efficiency. Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification I have illus trated a preferred embodiment of these improvements. In these drawings Figure 1 is a top plan of the device, with the top plate thereof removed; Fig. 2 is a medial longitudinal section of the device, as on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, as on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a top view of two of the mechanisms as in position for use. The rowing handle, oar blade and boat parts are shown fragmentarily, except for the handles in Fig. 4.

The preferably plate-like support 10 carries a pair of spaced-apart depending lugs or projections 11, which may well be integral with the plate or support 10, which is of cast iron, brass or other suitable material. To strengthen the plate 10 while preserving its desired lightness, ribs or vanes, as 12, may be cast thereon. The plate 10 carries also the two spaced apart cylindrical bearing stud shafts 13 and 14, which are preferably riveted, as at 15, upon the plate 10 so as to be carried rigidly thereby. The studs 13 and 14 are axially bored and tapped so as to accommodate the cap screws 16 and 17 respec tively, the cap screws having oil openings 18 and 19 therethrough, the bearing studs 13 and 14 having oil drifts 20 and 21 respectively, whereby oil inserted in the cap screws reaches the bearing surfaces of the studs. Intermeshing segmental gears 22 and 23 are mounted upon the studs 13 and 14 respectively so as to rock thereon. A plate 24 is held in position by the screws 16 and 17 and constitutes not only a substantially large washer or retaining surface for the gears but also a protecting cover for the same where they intermesh, as well as providing an additional brace or support for the studs 13 and 14. The gear 22 carries means 25 for securing a handle thereto and the gear 23 carries similar means 26 for securing an oar thereto. These means 25 and 26 are preferably in the form of arms cast integral with the gears respectively, and are longitudinally concave 0r trough-shaped so as partially to surround substantially circular stem portions of an oar blade or handle as the case may be. Bolts 27 secure the handle 28 and the oar 29 to the arms 25 and 26 respectively. The holes 30 in the webs of the gears are provided for drainage of water which might otherwise collect therein.

Preferred means for securing the support 10 to the side portion of a boat in operative position are a double clamp, as 40, having the outer arms 41, 42 and the inner arms 43, 44,thelatter being provided with the clamping screws 45 and 46 respectively. By these means the clamp 40 may be secured rigidly to the gunwale of the boat or to a suitable upwardly projecting boat part. Lugs or ears 47 are preferably cast integral with the clamp 40, these ears being sospaced apart as to interfit with the lugs 11 on the plate 10 and prevent the latter from moving longitudinally of the boat. The lugs 11 and 47 are severally apertured in alinement to accommodate the rod 50 on which the base or support 10 rocks, the rod preferably having a head 51 at one end and means at the other for preventing retraction thereof except as desired, for instance, the through pin 52. By this arrangement it will be apparent that the base 10 may be readily removed from the clamp 40 by withdrawing the pin 52 and then withdrawing the rod 50, or the entire device may be removed from the boat readily by simply retracting the clamping screws 45 and 46. It is also apparent that the device may be as readily set up for operation.

The segments of the gears 22 and 23 are shown as circular and approximately circular respectively. It is pointed out that in practice the pitch line of one should be modified slightly from the curve of a circle if the pitch line of the other is on a circular curve. It is clear that the segments of the gears 22 and 23 may be on elliptical lines and pivoted focally, in which case they would intermesh accurately in all operative positions. The gears actually shown are the practical equivalent of elliptical gears, and are varied therefrom'slightly for manufacturing reasons. Pivoted as they are, the pitch line of each gear is approximately the curve of different portions of similar ellipses, and the pivotal points substantially represent the foci of such curves. As a matter'of manufacturing practice I prefer to make one of the gears, as 22, with a circular pitch line, for the simple reason that the cutting of the gear is thereby facilitated in the ordinary gear-cutting machine. Some compensation must be made in the other gear, however, as 23, to provide the free intermeshing of the gears when the handle and blade .are in their forward and rearward positions respectively. This is readily accomplished in the ordinary gear-cutting machine by cutting the two halves of the gear lying respectively above and below the line 22 of Fig. 1 on different centers, each thereof being slightly outside of the line 22, and affording a sufficient approximation of the desired curve for all practical purposes. Such modification of one gear is a mere matter of mechanics which will be readily understood. In this manner I am able to provide the practical equivalent of elliptical gears and of gears which provide the desired results according to simple and easily performed operations.

The invention in respect to the curvature of the gears is not limited, however, to elliptical or other forms of gears specifically mentioned or described herein, since in intermeshing segments of such a limited length of are or curve a considerable variety of curves may be adopted, dependent upon the position of the pivots of the gears at various points therein on the line 22 or outside such line, modifying the amount of leverage increment, the relative rates of travel of the blade and oar respectively, and like considerations. The designation of these gears as mounted or pivoted eccentrically is also to be understood as including truly elliptical gears pivoted at respective foci thereof, as well as those of regular or irregular curves wherein the pivotal center is farther from the pitch line at one place than at another.

The efiect of pivoting substantially circular gears eccentrically or elliptical gears at foci thereof is to provide high rowing efficiency by varying the rate of travel of the blade relative to that of the handle and also relative to the side of the boat so as to be proportionate to the effective application of rowing power to the handle 28 as well as to provide a relatively high rate of travel of the blade in the water at the beginning of the stroke and an increasing rate of travel at the end portions of the stroke, at which latter time the efiectiveness of the blade in the water is particularly dependent upon its increased rate of travel. When the handle and oar are each in a forward position ready to begin a stroke and the rowers power is applied to the handle the rate of travel of the blade is substantially that of the handle (assuming, of course, a given distance from the pivotal point of the handle and blade respectively). In the beginning of the stroke, the blade and handle being pointed forward, the blade is not in position to exercise its maximum elficiency, and at this time the rower is not in position to exercise his greatest rowing strength. However, as the handle moves backward relative to the boat at a given rate of travel the blade also moves backward, but at a gradually decreasing relative rate of travel, gaining efiectiveness in the water as the rower gains in rowing position, until the ear and blade are in alinement as in Figs. 1 and 1, at which time the rower is in position to exert his maximum rowing strength and the blade is in position to exert its maximum pull upon the water. The blade is here moving less rapidly than the handle and the rowing power of the operator is accordingly multiplied beyond what would be the case of the usual one-piece oar or if the two gears were pivoted centrally. From the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4: to the end of the stroke the movement of the blade gradually increases over that of the handle, whereby the momentum of the rowers body and his sustained rowing power are exerted upon the blade now moving more and more rapidly and consequently developing a still greater speed of the boat, or, in any event, sustaining the developed speed and not inhibiting the forward movement of the boat by a drag of the blade in the water. In this latter position of the blade its effectiveness, dependent upon its position in the water, is becoming less and less and greater speed of the blade is necessary to sustain its driving effect upon the boat. It is pointed out, further, that while the blade and handle are moving forward. for another stroke the speed of the boat is naturally diminished and the rower is first called upon to overcome this tendency of the boat to come to rest and to give it an added impulse. In the older practice, at the beginning of a stroke the rower exerts himself strongly and usually with a sudden and quick pull upon the oar, making a strong demand upon his nervous and physical strength, especially true when any marked degree of speed is attempted. In the present practice this initial strain is avoided, the picking up of the speed being accomplished gradually through a gradually in creasing handle leverage proportionate to the effectiveness of the blade.

It is understood, of course, that the rower presses down on the handle in the usual Way at the end of a stroke to lift the blade out of the Water While it is being carried forward for the succeeding stroke.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of these improvements, 1 contemplate all modifications thereof as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. Bow-facing oar mechanism including in combination a support adapted to be secured to a boat so as to rock thereon, a pair of intermeshing gears pivoted eccentrically on said support, means for securing a handle to one of said gears and means for securing a blade to the other of said gears.

2. Bow-facing oar mechanism including in combination a gear support, a pair of intermeshing gears pivoted eccentrically on said support, means for securing a handle to one of said gears, means for securing an oar blade to the other of said gears, holding means adapted to be secured to the side portion of a boat, said gear support being pivotally mounted to rock on said holding means.

3. Bow-facing oar mechanism including in combination a support adapted to be secured to a boat, an oar blade and a handle mounted to rock on said support, said blade and said handle being operatively connected in mo tion communicating relation to each other by means providing a varying rate of travel of the blade With respect to that of the handle when rowing motion is applied to the handle.

a. Bow-facing oar mechanism including in combination a support for an oar blade and a handle, an oar blade and a handle mounted to rock on said support, and means including intermeshing gears operatively connecting said handle and said blade in motion communicating relation to each other providing a decreasing rate of travel of the blade from the initial portion of the stroke to substantially the central portion of the stroke and an increasing rate of travel from such substantially central portion of the stroke to the end portion of the stroke when the device is normally in use and the rate of travel of the handle is constant from the beginning to the end of the stroke.

5. Bow-facing oar mechanism including in combination a support adapted to be secured to a boat, a pair of intermeshing segmental gears pivotally mounted on said support, a handle carried by one of said gears and an oar blade carried by the other of said gears, one of said gears having a pitch line substantially circular and being pivoted ofi center.

6. Bow-facing oar mechanism including in combination a gear support, a clamp device adapted to be secured to a boat, said gear support being mounted so as to rock on said clamp device, a pair of intermeshing gears pivotally mounted eccentrically on said gear support, a handle carried by one of said gears, and an oar blade carried by the other of said gears.

EUGENE BIDDISON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for, five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

